Apparently there was a French lady (some versions say she actually was a Persian princess) in love with a Persian prince, who prepared a delicious pistachio cake with delicate spices and a fragrant saffron cream, which was meant to conquer his love.

This poor woman´s intention turned so bad, she ended up killing the prince. He died on the spot when he tasted the cake for he was terribly allergic to saffron. Not the kind of ending one expects for a sweet Valentine's story!

I am not going to risk it here, so I left the saffron out of the recipe! Pistachios are relevant as an ingredient in Persian cuisine and the cake is delicately spiced. The strawberries are a perfect match and I was happy to find some in the market, because they appear early in spring, and we are in mid summer by now, so what we get is the last of the season.

The batter can be used for a round 9" inch cake. Instead of filling the muffin cases, grease and line the bottom of a round 9" inch mold. Pour the batter and proceed to garnish with strawberry halves and coarsely ground pistachos. Bake for 50 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 C / 350 F or until a skewer in the centre comes out clean and the cake is lightly golden. Allow to cool completely and dust with icing sugar

2 comentarios:

What a story, yikes, the Prince died. Well, he would have died happy if he ate one of these beautiful muffins or the cake. I love the pistachio and strawberry, the gentle spicing. It's beautiful and perfectly delicious valentines treat.